“Garcia led people by the mind, by the ears. When he was playing great – and he almost always did in those days (early 70’s)- he would play with your brain, in that he’d be noodling around and then he’d figure out that you’re trying to anticipate what he’s going to do next, so then, of course he’d go and play some completely different phrase or idea: he’d throw a curveball at you. He loved doing that: that was one of his fine pleasures. And when it worked you could see what it would do to the crowd. There’d be this big ‘Yeaaah!’ and everyone felt it: you couldn’t miss it.
He loved to take musical chances. If you’re going to take chances and go out on a limb… well, Garcia lived in the twigs. He’d go out there and sometimes he’d make it back and sometimes he wouldn’t. But he had this sense of how to catch himself on the next branch on the way down and eventually end up on his feet at the end. It’s a thing that when you’re hearing it, you can follow in your head and actually see where he tried and he either made it or he didn’t, but you’re with him the whole way. And then you add to that the ability of all six of them (the Grateful Dead) to move on to something new in a moment – like a school of fish or a flock of birds – and you understand why so many people thought they were amazing."